Cephalota (Taenidia) littorea ( Forskal , 1775) [sic]

Assmann, Thorsten, Boutaud, Esteve, Buse, Joern, Gebert, Joerg, Drees, Claudia, Friedman, Ariel-Leib-Leonid, Khoury, Fares, Marcus, Tamar, Orbach, Eylon, Ittai Renan,, Schmidt, Constantin & Zumstein, Pascale, 2018, The tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) of the southern Levant and adjacent territories: from cybertaxonomy to conservation biology, ZooKeys 734, pp. 43-103 : 66-67

15. Cephalota (Taenidia) littorea ( Forskal, 1775) [sic]

Habitat.

On seashores and in marshland habitats. Diurnal and nocturnal. Attracted by light ( Abdel-Dayem et al. 2003; Cassola 1972; Nussbaum 1987).

Phenology.

May to September ( Abdel-Dayem et al. 2003; Nussbaum 1987).

Distribution range.

From southern Spain to the Arabian Peninsula and Northeast Africa ( Gebert 1991).

Distribution in the southern Levant.

Only in southern Sinai ( Abdel-Dayem et al. 2003; Alfieri 1976; Gebert 1991; Nussbaum 1987). No record from Israel or Jordan ( Putchkov and Matalin 2017), but populations still exist not far from the border to both countries (<Bir Suweir / Sinai 30.4.2016 / A. Gera> SMNHTAU, CAL).

Taxonomic notes.

Only the nominate subspecies occurs in the southern Levant ( Gebert 1991). Cephalota littorea and C. tibialis have long been confused (e.g. Mandl 1935). The revision of Gebert (1991) revealed the species status of both taxa, and described their variability (incl. genitalia and pale coloration pattern on elytra). The subspecies C. littorea alboreductata (Horn, 1934) occurs south of the distribution range of C. littorea s.str. ( Gebert 1991).

Although the taxon goudotii (Dejean, 1829), which occurs along the coasts of the western Mediterranean, is currently ranked as a subspecies of C. littorea , it is probably a valid species. Cephalota littorea s.str. and goudotii do not occur parapatrically as their ranges are separated from each other by a gap which is partially filled by the distribution range of Cephalota tibialis . Moreover, the differences in the median lobe of the aedeagus (shape, internal sac) may support the species status of both goudotii and Cephalota littorea (but see C. aulicoides for discussion of genital structures as characters to delineate species).

The correct spelling of the author name is Forskål ( Forskål 1775) and not Forsskål ( Putchkov and Matalin 2017).